Undercover with the Heiress

by Nan Dixon

  The idea settled over him like a warm blanket on a cool night. It felt right.

  He stuffed the notes in his pocket and headed out to talk to Nathan.

  * * *

  “YOU WANT ME to take care of Issy and Josh full-time?” Courtney asked Nathan. Her breath caught. Someone wanted her around? The metal edge of the patio chair dug into her fingers as she clutched it.

  “It would help Cheryl and me out.” Nathan slapped his hand on his thigh and sawdust flew. “On top of work, I’m trying to remodel the house before our wedding. Cheryl and Abby are crazy busy with the B and B and getting the restaurant up and running. Having you watch the kids here would save us time.”

  “But...I work for Abby.” Not that she was any good at housekeeping. But according to her mother, Father had softened after learning she was working for his favorite daughter-in-law.

  Babysitting wouldn’t qualify as a job in her father’s eyes. Even if she called herself a nanny, she could picture her father’s frowning face and hear him say “Babysitting is something a kid could do.”

  “It’ll take a few days to get everyone notified.” Nathan ran his hand through his hair. “But all the kids talked about this morning was how much fun they had with you last night.”

  “I had fun, too.” The most fun she’d had in weeks, maybe even months. That included her time in Boston.

  Except, Kaden’s almost-kiss had been awful. And frustrating. Not fun. She hadn’t sunk so low that she would accept a pity kiss from any man.

  “I have to think about this,” she said.

  Nathan grabbed her hand. His brown eyes glittered with gold sparks. “You’re good with the kids. Think hard, will you?”

  She would. “I adore them.”

  Nathan named a wage that was higher than what she was making at the B and B. “If we ever need you at night, we’d compensate you for that. If you’re available.”

  The only people she knew in Savannah were the Fitzgeralds and the B and B staff. None of them had ever asked her to stop for a drink or take in a movie.

  “I don’t do much at night,” she admitted. Besides read. “Let me think about your offer.”

  “Please say yes. The kids really like you.” Nathan headed back into the restaurant.

  She set her foot on the chair, letting her head rest on her hand. Her mother would be appalled. Feet should remain on the ground.

  When she exhaled, her breath shook. Nanny position? Glorified babysitting?

  But seeing Josh and Issy every day...

  She tossed her hair over her shoulders. So what if her father disapproved. She wouldn’t tell him where she was working, just that she was working. She could let Father think she still worked in the B and B.

  Her fingers tapped a rhythm on her thigh. What would she do with the children all day? Did Savannah have a zoo or a children’s museum? Was there a library nearby?

  They could start a book-reading chart. Each book would get them a star and stars would earn them rewards. Her cousins had loved that when she’d initiated it. How would she drive them around? Could they walk—in this heat? Did Issy take naps?

  There were so many things she needed to check on. What did they eat for lunch? Her skills in the kitchen were poor—oh, what was she saying? They were nonexistent. Even when she’d taken care of her cousins, their cook had been around. And Issy and Josh had a mother who cooked for Abby Fitzgerald, the Kitchen Queen.

  Footsteps echoed on the flagstone garden paths.

  Courtney let her feet slip to the ground.

  “I’m heading over for lunch, are you interested?” Gray stopped next to the table.

  This was her day off. The last place she wanted to be was the B and B, but it was a chance to talk to Abby. Could she do that with her brother listening to every word? “Sure.”

  “There you are.” Abby turned at the slap of the door. A grin spread across her face as Gray pulled her in for a kiss.

  Really? When she’d come in for iced tea a couple of hours ago, they’d been smooching in the carriage house kitchen. They needed to tone it down.

  Gray set Abby back on her feet. “What’s for lunch?”

  “There’s sandwiches or salad on the table.” Abby checked the time.

  He headed to the food. “Thanks. I’m starving.”

  “I’ll be right back,” Abby said. “I need to take the trays over to Nathan’s crew.”

  Courtney had done that last week. It seemed strange that Abby fed workers who were being paid to build her restaurant. Shouldn’t they bring their own lunches?

  Ghad. If she accepted Nathan and Cheryl’s offer would she be expected to bring her own lunch?

  Gray set down his half-eaten sandwich. “I’ll help.”

  “No, no, sit. I can make a couple of trips.” Abby waved him back to the table.

  “I—” Gray began.

  “I’ll help,” Courtney interrupted. Helping would give her a chance to ask Abby about quitting.

  “You?” Abby’s mouth dropped open.

  “You?” Gray’s eyebrows shot up.

  “Sure.” Did they have to be so surprised?

  Courtney gathered one tray and Abby the other. “There must be a lot of guys working today.”

  “They’re so close to finishing. I want to make sure everyone is fed and happy.”

  Courtney waited until they were walking through the courtyard. “Umm, Abby?”

  “Yes?”

  “How much notice do you need for me to quit working at the B and B?” Notice. That’s what it was called, right?

  “You’re quitting?” Was that relief in Abby’s voice?

  “Nathan offered me a nanny position for Issy and Josh.”

  Abby stopped and stared at her. “He did?”

  Courtney nodded. “I’m not...adept at cleaning, but I really adore being with the kids.”

  Abby raised her eyebrows. “That’s the truth, although there weren’t any disasters yesterday, right?”

  A broken glass, but she’d tucked it in the garbage before anyone saw. “None.”

  “Let me check with Marion, but I think you can quit right away.” Abby pushed open the carriage house door.

  “Okay, good.” Courtney sighed. Now to come up with a plan on what to do with the kids each day.

  * * *

  THE SECURITY SIGNAL BUZZED. Bole? Kaden snatched the tablet from his granddad’s workbench and opened the recognition software while racing up the stairs.

  It was Courtney, Issy and Josh. They were in the courtyard. He let loose the breath he’d been holding and returned to the workshop.

  Courtney was now taking care of the kids. It was great having her on site, but she and the kids kept setting off the alerts.

  He pushed back through the workshop door. If he was honest, he liked watching Courtney with Issy and Josh. When she was with the kids, her smile was free, not calculating like when she flirted with him. Why couldn’t she drop the pretense and show him who she really was?

  But understanding Courtney wasn’t why he was in Savannah.

  He kept his eye on the cameras. Even though it was Saturday, Courtney and the kids headed down the courtyard paths. He couldn’t help but enjoy the rear view of Courtney’s great ass. After they passed Abby and Gray’s home, he lost sight of them. Where were they going? Should he add more cameras on that side of the property?

  Nathan said he would show Heather’s picture to Courtney, but had he gotten a chance? Kaden needed to know. He tapped the lid on the varnish can, stuffed a copy of Heather’s picture in his pocket and took the steps two at a time. What were they doing?

  The good thing about working undercover at the B and B was he could wander where needed and no one questioned him. Plus, Bess had asked him to move some pot
s. He had an excuse to head over to her greenhouse and find out if that was where Courtney had taken the kids.

  The rain last night had left the plants scattered with dew. Color peeked from among the lush greens in the gardens and the splash of the frog fountain was a soothing backdrop of tranquility.

  A few guests lingered over coffee in the courtyard. He nodded in greeting, knowing he needed to keep up the facade of being an approachable B and B employee, but he hurried by so no one engaged him in conversation. It happened all too frequently. No wonder his granddad loved working here. Fitzgerald hospitality set everyone at ease.

  Turning the corner of Abby and Gray’s house, he headed up the small hill. Even here, palms and flowers surrounded Bess’s greenhouse.

  The glass building had a vaulted roofline. Windows were open on the top and sides. Inside, the kids and Courtney talked to Bess.

  He opened the door and walked through an entryway into the main room. Humidity and the smell of dirt and flowers hit him like a punch. Racks and racks of exotic-looking plants stretched halfway to the ceiling. They were the same kind of weird flowering plants that had been in his room in Carleton House.

  Bess knelt in front of the kids and held a plant with waxy white flowers.

  “Hi, Mr. Kaden.” A grin creased Josh’s face. “We’re learning about orchids. I get to draw them.”

  Courtney turned, her deep blue eyes wide open. Issy gave him a little wave. Bess smiled.

  “That’s great.” To Bess, he said, “Thought I could move those pots for you.”

  “Give me a minute.” Bess turned back to the kids. “An orchid needs to attract pollinators, so they use color, shape or smell. Moths pollinate most white orchids. The white flower lets them be found by night-flying insects.”

  “Cool,” Josh said.

  “Cool,” Issy repeated.

  Courtney cringed. “There are bugs in here?”

  “Necessary for the plants.” Bess pointed down an aisle. “I set up a table and chairs for you. And I’ve added flowers that I thought you’d like to draw. Why don’t you go ahead and check them out?”

  The kids and Courtney headed to the table.

  Bess came over to him. “Let me show you which pots I want to transfer to the Fitzgerald House porch and which to Carleton House.”

  As they moved through the greenhouse, he said, “This was a great idea for the kids. Nice of you to think about it.”

  “I didn’t come up with this idea—Courtney did.”

  “She did?” His eyebrows popped up.

  “Yeah. I didn’t give her that much credit, either.” Bess shrugged. “Too much bad blood between her and my family.”

  He moved eight pots of red and yellow flowers to their respective porches. Then he hauled eight more back into the greenhouse. “Anything else you need?”

  “I’m good.” Bess called over to the kids, “Do you want to see me propagate an orchid?”

  Josh and Issy scrambled over to Bess’s workbench.

  Courtney hung back.

  He had to know if she was aware of what Heather looked like. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

  She checked the kids and then nodded. “What’s up?”

  He didn’t want the kids overhearing them, so he tipped his head toward the entry. “Since I’m around the B and B all the time, Nathan gave me a picture of Issy’s mother. He wants to know if I see her hanging around.”

  Courtney glanced over at Issy. “He started to say something yesterday, but Issy walked into the kitchen. I didn’t get a chance to look at the picture.”

  “I’ve been carrying an extra photo around,” he lied. “Just in case I see someone who doesn’t look like a guest.”

  She unfolded the paper and stared. “Do you think she’s still blond?”

  Good question. “I assumed so.”

  She pointed at Heather’s dark roots. “She could have gone back to her natural color.”

  “Hmm.” She might have. He’d better have the specialist run simulations of Heather as a brunette and redhead.

  Courtney looked over at Issy. “Maybe she wanted to look more like her daughter, but whoever was coloring her hair used too harsh a brand. It looks incredibly dry.”

  And...there was the Courtney who didn’t see below the surface. Kaden shook his head. “I’ll let you know if I spot her.”

  “I should give you my number.” Courtney held out her hand for his phone. “I can enter it for you.”

  “Oh, I’ll enter it.” He couldn’t let her see he already had her cell phone number. He pretended to open screens. “Go ahead.”

  Courtney rattled it off. She looked up and her fake smile appeared. Running a finger down his bare arm, she said, “Feel free to use it. Anytime.”

  Her touch hit him like a karate kick to the chest. He should be stepping back, but his feet were rooted to the floor.

  “Miss Courtney, come see,” Josh called.

  Just like the night he’d almost kissed her, she stepped away. He inhaled, sharp and quick.

  “Coming.” She stared up at him through thick black eyelashes. And winked.

  The blood deserted his head and sank lower into his body.

  Courtney straightened and touched her chest, reminding him of Granddad’s signal. “I’ll let you or Nathan know if I see this woman. I won’t let anything happen to Issy.”

  She turned back to the kids and his gaze dropped to watch her ass as she put a little extra sway into her step.

  Who was Courtney? She criticized another woman’s hair coloring, and couldn’t clean worth spit. She seemed at odds with her brother and didn’t fit in with adults, but she loved Josh and Issy and thought of fun activities to keep them not only entertained, but also educated. She was smart enough to keep beating him and Josh in a game of strategy.

  Who was the real Courtney, and could she keep Issy safe?

  * * *

  THERE WAS KADEN. Again.

  Courtney caught the kids’ hands and crossed from Fitzgerald House into Johnson Square.

  Every time she and the children left the apartment, Kaden materialized. While Bess had taught the kids about orchids, he’d been in and out of the greenhouse. Whenever she was outside with the kids, he was close. She’d even spotted him when she and Issy and had walked Josh to his bus stop, or waited for him at the end of the school day.

  If she didn’t know better, she’d think the guy was a stalker. It was as if he’d bugged the apartment and knew whenever they left.

  His mixed messages—all business and then looking at her with eyes so hot she feared her body would melt—were confusing. Maybe she’d played her seduction games too long. This thing with Kaden wasn’t fun anymore. It was better to stay focused on the kids.

  “Hang on,” Kaden yelled, jogging toward them. “Where are you heading to today?”

  “The library,” Josh answered. “The book lady is reading.”

  Issy nodded.

  “Issy likes going,” Josh added.

  “Josh,” Courtney said. “You weren’t going to talk for Issy, right?”

  “Yeah.” Josh stubbed the toe of his sneaker on the cobblestones. Too often he acted as Issy’s voice. The little girl was quiet and Josh...wasn’t.

  “I’ll walk with you,” Kaden said.

  This was—odd.

  “Don’t you have work to do?” she asked.

  Kaden’s stack of requests from Marion and the Fitzgerald sisters was probably a little shorter now that she wasn’t breaking or destroying things, but she was amazed by the effort expended to keep up the B and B.

  “I have to run an errand.” He waved his hand in the general direction they were walking.

  Where? She frowned, then relaxed the furrows between her eyebrows. Her face wasn’t g
oing to survive Savannah.

  “How was the park yesterday?” he asked, walking next to Josh.

  “Balloons.” Issy tipped up her face, smiling. “I petted a lamb.”

  “What was a lamb doing in the park?” he asked.

  “They had a small petting zoo set up,” Courtney explained. Issy had been entranced.

  “I wanted to go.” Josh stubbed the toe of his sneaker again, this time on the sidewalk. “They had pony rides.”

  “I’ll check to see if they come back,” Courtney promised.

  Josh slipped his hand out of hers and grabbed Kaden’s. He tugged. “When are we going fishing?”

  “I don’t remember promising to take you fishing,” Kaden said.

  “On Italian night,” Josh insisted.

  Courtney snickered. “I think you talked about fishing, but Mr. Kaden didn’t promise to take you anywhere.”

  Josh looked at Kaden. “It would be a reward, since I gotta go to school.”

  “Have to,” she said, correcting him. “And why does that matter?”

  “’Cuz maybe we can go after I come home from school. Usually I help my papa with the new house on weekends.” Josh stuck out his chest. “I’m the best clean-up man he’s ever seen.”

  “I’ll bet you are.” Courtney stroked his blond curls. The kid was so darn cute.

  “And that’s why I should get to go fishing.” He tugged on Kaden’s arm. “Right?”

  Kaden looked a little shell-shocked. “Umm...”

  “Josh, don’t hound him.”

  “But—”

  “No.”

  “Then can we go, Miss Courtney? Issy loves to fish.” Josh wasn’t letting go of his fishing idea.

  “I’d have to talk to your parents about going to the river or beach.”

  “What?” Alarm filled Kaden’s voice. His reaction was...extreme.

  “I’d want Cheryl and Nathan to be okay with me taking the kids to the beach,” she said.

  “Where would you go?” Kaden stopped in the center of the sidewalk and caught her hand in a viselike grip. “Issy is safer at the B and B.”